Year 1799: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1799. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, U.S. economic data, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: John Adams (Federalist Party-Massachusetts)
2. Vice President: Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican Party-Virginia)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Oliver Ellsworth (Connecticut)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Jonathan Dayton (Federalist Party-New Jersey)—Until March 4
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Theodore Sedgwick (Federalist Party-Massachusetts)—Beginning on December 2
6. In 1799, the fifth U.S. Congress was in session until March 4, when the sixth U.S. Congress convened. It initially met at Congress Hall, located at 6th and Chestnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia, and later in the new Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. This was the last Congress in which the Federalist Party controlled the presidency or either chamber of Congress.
7. Inflation rate: 0.00%
8. Consumer price index (CPI): 12.300
9. $100.00 in 1799 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,707.48 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.46% per year” between 1799 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 2,607.48%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 3.693% of what it could purchase back in 1799.
10. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 96% of its value since 1799.
11. In 1799, there were 16 U.S. states. In order of admission to the Union, they were Delaware (1787), Pennsylvania (1787), New Jersey (1787), Georgia (1788), Connecticut (1788), Massachusetts (1788), Maryland (1788), South Carolina (1788), New Hampshire (1788), Virginia (1788), New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Kentucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796).
12. American companies established in 1799 included the Baltimore Type Foundry and the Manhattan Company (a New York City-based bank and holding company).
13. On January 6, Jedediah Strong Smith, one of America’s greatest trapper-explorers, was born in Bainbridge, New York.
14. On January 14, American inventor Eli Whitney received a contract to supply 10,000 muskets to the U.S. government.
15. On January 18, Joseph Dixon, an American inventor and industrialist, was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He is probably best known for creating the yellow No. 2 pencil.
16. On January 25, Eliakim Spooner of Vermont received a U.S. patent for a seed planting machine.
17. On February 13, the Massachusetts legislature passed America’s first law to regulate the insurance industry.
18. On February 22, Nelly Custis, the adopted daughter of George and Martha Washington, married Lawrence Lewis at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
19. On February 25, Congress passed the Federal Timber Purchases Act, which appropriated $200,000 “to enable the federal government to purchase standing timber and timberland to guarantee a steady supply of rot-resistant live oak for U.S. Navy shipbuilding.”
20. On March 2, President Adams signed the United States' first weights and measures legislation into law. The Act “ensured uniformity in weighing and measuring devices across custom houses and state governments.”
21. On March 29, New York passed a law aimed at “gradually abolishing slavery in the state.”
22. On September 1, the Bank of the Manhattan Company, a precursor to JPMorgan Chase & Co., opened for business at 40 Wall Street in New York City.
23. On November 12, Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, witnessed the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys. His journal entry “is the first known record of a meteor shower in North America.”
24. On December 14, George Washington, the first president of the United States, died at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia. He was 67 years old.
25. Notable fiction works published in 1799 included Jane West’s A Tale of the Times, Mary Julia Young’s The East Indian, and William Henry Ireland’s The Abbess.
26. Notable non-fiction works published during the year were Hannah Adams’ A Summary History of New-England and Hannah More’s Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education.
27. Famous people born in 1799 were Honoré de Balzac (novelist), Jedediah Smith (explorer), and Mary Anning (paleontologist).
28. Famous people who died in 1799 included George Washington (first U.S. president), Joseph Bologne (French composer), and Patrick Henry (U.S. Founding Father who famously said, "Give me liberty or give me death").
29. In 1799 as well, the words “air-dry,” “biology,” “cocoa bean,” “cold-press,” “co-owner,” “devil-may-care,” “evangelism,” “farsightedness,” “foreign service,” “horticulturist,” “freaky,” “gaseous,” “hygiene,” “income tax,” “Irish stew,” “isolate,” “nationalize,” “password,” “permanent tooth,” “potato bug,” “rainstorm,” “soda water,” and “stereotype” all appeared in print for the first time.
30. Beef: $2.00 to $3.00 per 100 pounds
31. Butter: 12 to 15 cents a pound
32. Chickens: 12 cents each
33. Coffee: 25 cents to 33 cents per pound
34. Corn: 50 cents per bushel
35. Flour: $5.00 per barrel
36. Milk: Eight cents a quart
37. Oats: 33 cents per bushel
38. Salt Pork: Eight cents per pound
39. Turkeys: 50 cents each
40. Wheat: $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1799_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1799
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1799
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1799_in_literature
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1799.html
6. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1799.html
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1799
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1795-1799.html
9. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1799
10. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1799

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor